We understand that BlackBerry Tour owners might feel like the forgotten redheaded stepchildren of the Verizon BlackBerry family now that the Bold 9650 has arrived, but word has it that Verizon will begin pushing out an OS update for the Tour starting at 6pm EDT. Apart from an assortment of fixes relating to the recently introduced Push-to-Talk feature, the move to 5.0.0.732 should also go a long way to fix other niggles including issues with data reception. We’ll be sure to holler back once the update is live, but if you happen to spot it before us, don’t be shy to send us a tip.

It looks like the Canadian BlackBerry faithful won’t have to wait too much longer to get their hands on the BlackBerry Pearl 3G, as one of our Virgin Mobile connects just sent us in a bunch of pictures of a newly arrived dummy model. We have been told to expected the actual devices to arrive in stores very, very shortly, and that the 3-year price will be $49.99, with the option for a 30-day contract at $349.99. One more pic after the jump.

Sprint customers who have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the BlackBerry Tour Bold 9650 can rejoice today as the device is now available online from Sprint. With a full retail price of $450, new customers and those eligible for upgrades will be able to have a 9650 shipped to their door for as little as $199.99 after $100 MIR with a 2-year commitment. Just make sure you’re not going to want to put this thing on Craigslist as soon as the EVO 4G drops, okay?

We hate to break your heart in case you were thinking the BlackBerry 9300, the latest BlackBerry smartphone to be outed by UAProf, would RIM’s next big thing, but reality paints a different picture. Based on specifications and from what we’re starting to hear to hear from connects now that the information has slipped out in a semi-official fashion, it sounds like the 9300 will pick up where the current Curve 8500 Series left off and add in a few features. Regrettably the display will be limited to an eye-straining resolution of 320×240, but the addition of 802.11n Wi-Fi and W-CDMA aren’t exactly anything to scoff at when you’re dealing with what is a dependable, and more importantly truly affordable, communications device. We’re still waiting to hear what we’re in for in terms of the processor, memory, camera and other odds and ends (the OS is currently listed as 5.0), but we don’t think such things will be able to remain as secret much longer.

When it was first leaked it earned something of a reputation for being moody, but Verizon is clearly confident that BlackBerry OS 5.0.0.591 will serve Tour 9630 users well because it’s now pushing out the software OTA complete with Push-To-Talk capabilities. A truncated change-log is available after the jump, but first we have one simple question for you. How’s it feel? More →

We announced two days ago that AT&T was going to do something a little special for the holidays – taking 50% off BlackBerry smartphones. Starting today, you can head into an AT&T retail store or hop online and grab a BlackBerry of your choice, the BlackBerry 9700 included, for half of what you’d normally have to shell out any other time of year. We don’t need to tell you that this requires a two year agreement and there’s still a mail-in-rebate, but we just did. Just in case. We’re not sure how long this offer will last, but you can bet it will only be for a limited time. And before we forget, the Samsung Solstice will be free with a new contract and all that jazz.

With today being Thanksgiving and most blogs closing shop for the day, we thought it would be a perfect time for us to break out our review of the latest smartphone in Verizon’s line-up, the BlackBerry Curve 8530. More or less the same device as T-Mobile’s (and soon to be AT&T’s) Curve 8520, the 8530 differs a bit: it adds GPS into the fold and runs on EV-DO Rev. 0 networks. We’ve been putting it through our patent-pending stress test this week, so hit the break to check out our thoughts. More →

It might not be fancy or scream “look at me”, but Verizon’s now-available BlackBerry Curve 8530 is a smartphone that gets the job done. Kitted out with a 2.5″ display, 2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS and 256MB of flash memory, the Curve 8530 is also the first full-QWERTY BlackBerry from Verizon to feature RIM’s new optical trackpad and OS 5.0. Other than that, a 3.5mm headphone jack, Stereo Bluetooth, support for microSD cards and dedicated multimedia keys round out the rest of the phone’s features. Of course at $99.99 on contract there are a lot of better smartphones that are similarly priced, but for BlackBerry lovers fond of Verizon and always looking to save a bit of coin, you can’t really go wrong. Plus it comes in two colors: Black and Smoky Violet (imagine the color of your grandmother’s ugliest pant suit). Yay?More →

Just a quick little heads up for our Canadians brothers and sisters that at this moment may or may not be doing battle with polar bears on glaciers the size of Manhattan — TELUS has released the BlackBerry Storm2. Retailing for $599.99, the Storm2 is also available at the subsidized price of $199.99 provided one is willing to take on a 3-year contract with a minimum of a $50 voice and data plan. So what’s it going to be, Canada? Yay or nay? More →

Having been on sale in other countries for almost two weeks, the BlackBerry Bold 9700 has finally made it to American soil. Now available from T-Mobile, the Bold 9700 is the first BlackBerry to have AWS 3G. Other features include a HVGA+ display, 3.2 megapixel camera, optical trackpad, and support for HotSpot @Home and Visual Voicemail, but anyone keeping tabs on Waterloo’s latest surely knows those specs by now. So how much will the Bold 9700 set you back? $199.99 on a 2-year contract (Even More) or $449.99 outright via Even More Plus with the option to finance the device at $22 per month over 20 months. Now then, how many of you are going to be picking this up?

Recently, TELUS issued a press release letting Canadians know that their handsets are now being offered through Black’s, the nation-wide digital camera chain. This news in itself didn’t interest us in the least, but for giggles we clicked on through to Black’s website just to see what handsets it was going to be offering considering the odd partnership. What did we see in the line up? None other than a TELUS branded BlackBerry Storm2. Unfortunately what you see above is all we have for now as this sucker has not yet been announced by TELUS, but we have a feeling that will change very, very soon.

Canadians with a ravenous appetite for all things BlackBerry should take note that Rogers Wireless has begun selling the BlackBerry Bold 9700 on its website. Available for $299.99 on a 3-year with voice and data, the Bold 9700 is also being offered for $599.99 with no strings attached. As for when HSPA newcomers Bell and TELUS will be offering up the 9700, the latest word is that both carriers will offer the device the day they launch their new networks. For Bell, that’s the 4th of November with TELUS following the very next day.

After months of leaks, teasing and previews, yesterday was the first day that Verizon Wireless started selling the BlackBerry Storm2. Available on a 2-year contract for $179.99 after rebates (or $539.00 contract free), the Storm2 intentionally regrettably has been released on the very same day both Verizon and Motorola took the wraps off of the DROID. Verizon and RIM were at least kind enough to include it in their latest BOGO campaign, though. Sure, the BOGO sale lets you get other devices like the Tour and MiFi 2200, but let’s be honest here — people are going to be picking up a second Storm2 and putting it on eBay post-haste. So what say you, “Storm chasers”? Are you going to be pursuing this weather system or sitting it out?